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en-usCopyright 2015 AOL, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/07/guardians-of-middle-earth-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/07/guardians-of-middle-earth-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/07/guardians-of-middle-earth-review/#comments"Multiplayer Online Battle Arena," or MOBA, is the name given to the emerging genre of games initiated by Dota, and now led by games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Heroes of Newerth, Smite, and more. Because MOBA games come from a heritage of real-time strategy gameplay, they tend to have most of the qualities of that genre. They're complicated, high stakes affairs, with lots of controls and nuances, where one little move can sometimes turn the tide of battle completely. These are traditionally games meant for hotkeys and minimap clicking, mouse precision and a Ventrilo client, rather than the relatively imprecise triggers and joysticks on a console controller.

Which makes it all the more impressive, then, that Monolith (a studio with a long shooter tradition that includes No One Lives Forever and the FEAR series) has chosen to take on Guardians of Middle Earth, a MOBA game designed from the ground up to recreate the traditionally PC-centric experience on consoles. Yes, games like Awesomenauts and Monday Night Combat have borrowed MOBA principles, but Monolith here goes full bore, all the way back to the top-down isometric view that began with the original Starcraft Aeon of Strife map at the genre's inception.

In fact, given this task, the fact that Monolith's game also happens to use the Lord of the Rings license (right around the release of the new Hobbit film) is almost inconsequential. Tolkien nerds may want to see Sauron battling it out with Gandalf directly, but MOBA nerds should be even more excited to see what Monolith does with this emerging new form.

Sony's PlanetSide 2 is now available, and this video for the game asks (somewhat smugly) if "your FPS" can do what PS2 does. The point being conveyed, of course is that most games in the genre don't have the same scale as what's on display here.

The Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft 3 has spawned no less than four retail titles now (Heroes of Newerth, Demigod, League of Legends, and Valve's upcoming Dota 2), and Las Vegas' Petroglyph Games is throwing its hat into the ring with another, called Rise of Immortals. Petroglyph, which has its roots in EA's Westwood Studios and is also working on an MMORTS for Trion, showed the game to me at GDC last week and, while it's safe to say that the growing "MOBA" (multiplayer online battle arena) genre is probably well covered already, they are planning to put a few new twists and turns on the still-developing formula.

The most central of these is more of an emphasis on PvE -- while League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth is centered around five players battling it out with five others online, Rise of Immortals plans to make playing versus the environment a viable goal, with levels that spawn monsters to fight and even award persistent items for you and your team. There are some other innovations, too, and Rise of Immortals seems like it will be an interesting experimental entry into this quickly evolving genre.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dotafree-to-playgenremobapcpetroglyphpetroglyph-gamesrise-of-immortalsThu, 10 Mar 2011 12:15:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/01/riccitiello-skating-genre-is-dead-but-music-games-will-survive/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/01/riccitiello-skating-genre-is-dead-but-music-games-will-survive/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/01/riccitiello-skating-genre-is-dead-but-music-games-will-survive/#comments
EA CEO John Riccitiello has bad news for fans of skateboarding games: The genre is dead. Action sports games still have a place in players' consoles, he says, but "for the level of excitement out there, skateboarding seems to have run its course as the representative example in that broader genre." Too bad, Tony Hawk players -- the competitor of the company that makes your games says they're not exciting. Though in his defense, EA's own Skate 3 wasn't that exciting either.

But there's good news, according to Riccitiello, for another flagging genre. Music games can possibly make a comeback, the CEO says, though even he isn't sure how. "I think the music genre is going to recover ... It could be based on some new innovation. Maybe it all becomes dance-based." Oh, that's rich, Riccitiello -- a super-popular dance game based on some kind of innovative technology? If only that "falling knife" Harmonix made something like that.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dance-centraleagenrejohn-riccitiellomicrosoftmusicnintendoplaystationps3skatingwiixboxWed, 01 Dec 2010 21:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/23/preview-elemental-war-of-magic/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/23/preview-elemental-war-of-magic/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/23/preview-elemental-war-of-magic/#comments
Stardock's Elemental: War of Magic is already extraordinary, smashing genres together that may have been too big on their own in the first place. At its heart, it's a 4X game in the style of Civ or Galactic Civilizations, but it's also a fantasy RPG with a deep and long story, and a tactical battle game. It has a huge singleplayer campaign, a sandbox mode that creates gigantic maps at random, and even a multiplayer mode. It's vast and confusing and intricate, and while there are certain gamers who just won't vibe with all of the numbers and how open the gameplay is, there are others - probably old-school strategy types - who will love it for everything it is.

Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell is one of those for sure -- as he showed me the latest beta of the game earlier this month, his enthusiasm for the game he's built was quite clear. Elemental: War of Magic, like all of Stardock's titles, is as "homespun" as any video game can be, and Wardell's personality and preferences shine through almost all of its (sorry) elements.

Review Diary

This is the final part of a four-day review diary about the first MMO from developers Realtime Worlds, APB.

One of the hardest parts about reviewing an MMO is that the genre takes full advantage of being online and persistent. Because players need to log in to an updated client every time, developers can quickly and relatively easily push out new bugfixes and content with regularity. Realtime Worlds has already released one patch post-release for APB, and while I've talked about certain issues with repetitive gameplay and earning customization levels, both of those issues can be fixed with updates if the developers choose to do so.

So the final question in reviewing an MMO isn't necessarily if you should buy this game today or not. It's: Does the game offer enough promise to invest your time and attention? Future plans included, out of all the games you could spend your free time on, is APB capable of rewarding that investment with a quality experience?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinAPBcustomizationdave-joneseaea-partnersgameplaygenreissuesmmoonlinepatchespcrealtime-worldsreviewupdatesFri, 09 Jul 2010 18:46:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/activisions-guitar-hero-ceo-replaced/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/activisions-guitar-hero-ceo-replaced/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/activisions-guitar-hero-ceo-replaced/#comments
Activision's Guitar Hero business unit has a new boss, who's not the same as the old boss -- former COO David Haddad is taking over the post after CEO Dan Rosensweig left the company. Haddad was the head of Vivendi's Sierra Online division back in the day, but started working with the Guitar Hero group after Activision merged with Viviendi back in 2007.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionchegg.comcommunitydan-amrichdan-rosensweigdavid-haddaddeclininggenreguitar-heromusic-gamesone-of-swordssalestextbookTue, 02 Feb 2010 21:15:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/20/ds-daily-style-over-sense/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/20/ds-daily-style-over-sense/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/20/ds-daily-style-over-sense/#commentsI mentioned in the Dark Spire post that I don't usually play dungeon RPGs. I have no aptitude for strategy, little patience for grinding, and, uh, I actually tend to get lost in first-person maze-type environments. So that is just not the genre for me. But I will play The Dark Spire, even if my experience only lasts a searingly frustrating ten minutes, because both of its visual styles appeal to me.

Have you picked up something you knew was outside of your usual area of expertise based solely on the style? Are you planning to? Or are you smarter than me?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>atlusgenrerpgsuccessthe-dark-spireSat, 20 Dec 2008 10:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/07/ds-daily-evaluation/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/07/ds-daily-evaluation/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/07/ds-daily-evaluation/#commentsNow that the DSi is moving us into a newish era of Nintendo handheld gaming, it's a good time to look back on the DS library so far. Most of us seem pretty happy with the selection that's build up over the year, but do you feel there's been a good distribution of genres and plenty of replayable games? Great concepts? Too much of anything, or too little of another?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>genrelibraryFri, 07 Nov 2008 09:04:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/08/ds-daily-underrepresented/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/08/ds-daily-underrepresented/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/08/ds-daily-underrepresented/#comments
The DS is really starting to load up on certain kinds of games, like strategy and puzzle titles. We're even starting to see a glut of all kinds of RPGs, a genre that was once thin on the handheld. But what's missing? Is there a particular genre you feel is underrepresented on the system? Or perhaps there's just something you enjoy and would like to see more of, like text adventures. What do you want to see more of?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>genreunderrepresentedFri, 08 Aug 2008 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/ds-daily-the-strongest-genre/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/ds-daily-the-strongest-genre/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/ds-daily-the-strongest-genre/#commentsThe DS boasts a pretty respectable library by now, with many genres represented by some very excellent titles. But what does the DS do best? Some find the touchscreen strategy most addictive, while others spend their time hunting down new adventure games. Of course, there's always the very excellent rhythm game contingent, as well, and some will certainly argue that those games make best use of the touchscreen. But what genre has been your favorite on the DS?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>genrelibraryMon, 26 May 2008 09:01:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/05/joystiq-impressions-battle-of-the-bands-wii/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/05/joystiq-impressions-battle-of-the-bands-wii/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/05/joystiq-impressions-battle-of-the-bands-wii/#commentsFiled under: Nintendo Wii, Rhythm, Casual, GalleriesTHQ's under-the-radar Wii game, Battle of the Bands is coming out this month. I recently saw the game in action, and I finally have a grasp on its concept. Thankfully renamed from Band Mashups, Battle of the Bands pits two gamers against each other in a Wiimote-only rhythm competition. As Guitar Hero-style commands float by, players flick the controller down, left, right, or shake it with the beat.

A successful string of hits activates the "battle," firing shots at the enemy band. An aptly timed B-button blocks those volleys. This attack-and-defend mechanic controls the tug-of-war between the two players; when one is leading, the shared song plays in their chosen genre, flipping between hip-hop/funk, rock, country, marching band, and latin. The game's 30 different songs all have these versions, so you could hear "Whoomp! (There it is)" as country or "Man of Constant Sorrow" in hip-hop.

The game is heavily tuned for two players, although single-player options are included. I think it'll make a good party game in limited doses, and unfortunately, it's another Wii game that should be online but isn't.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>band-mashupsbattle-of-the-bandsbeat-matchinggenremusicplanet-moonrhythmthqWiiSat, 05 Apr 2008 18:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/24/ds-daily-underrepresented/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/24/ds-daily-underrepresented/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/24/ds-daily-underrepresented/#commentsDS owners have tons to choose from; after all, there are usually more games we want than we can possibly play in any given year. That doesn't mean everything is perfect, however. It's likely that, no matter how satisfied you are with your handheld, some facet of gaming seems underrepresented to you when it comes to the DS library. What is it? We're dying to know. On the flip side, maybe you think there's too much of a good thing here and there. Maybe you're up to your elbows in training games, or you've noticed that nearly everything is incorporating a little strategy of late. Wait! Maybe we need a Strategy Training game ....

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>genreMon, 24 Mar 2008 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/15/wii-warm-up-genre-hunting/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/15/wii-warm-up-genre-hunting/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/15/wii-warm-up-genre-hunting/#comments
Now that the Wii is one year old, it's time for us to start getting greedy. It is the holiday season, after all!* So, what genre would you like to see beefed up on the Wii? First person shooters, sports games, RPGs, what have you, we'd just like to know. And why that particular genre? Is it because those in that genre are your favorite types of games, or just because you think the Wii doesn't have enough of them right now?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>genreSat, 15 Dec 2007 10:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/ds-daily-reformulated/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/ds-daily-reformulated/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/ds-daily-reformulated/#commentsWe thought we'd do a little thought experiment today. The DS is home to a few games that combine two unrelated genres unexpectedly, to varying results: the (nominally) rhythm-based brawler Draglade, and the puzzle RPG Puzzle Quest, to name two.

We'd like you to come up with a design idea for a game combining two divergent genres or styles? How about a real-time strategy game about one-on-one fighting? Or an abstract music-based racing game? No idea is too crazy -- not after Puzzle Quest.

The Xbox 360 has a reputation for being a shooting man's console. If it runs and guns, it must be Xbox 360. Turns out that's not so true, but it took until now for site to lay it all out. FPS Source gave us the numbers and X3F came along with an easy to understand pie chart. Originally taking what FPS Source believed is the console's current 137 title library, they discovered the FPS genre makes up 11% and the Third Person Shooter genre is 6%, with the most common genres being sports and action/adventure titles.

Over the last couple days since FPS Source wrote the original piece, some people have become quite passionate on the subject. There's been a few updates, a little give and take, and someone even made a new chart, using scores from Metatcritic, showing that 22% of the good games are shooters. There is also criticism because sports games, like Madden, are just the same thing with a different number every year, so they shouldn't count multiple times. The point is that even with the back and forth, shooters are merely a facet of the Xbox 360's identity. With any luck, games like Blue Dragon, Mass Effect and the beautiful Eternal Sonata (try the demo) will help round out those hard shooter edges that the Xbox still gets pegged with.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fpsfpssourcegenreshootersXbox-360xbox360Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:20:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/28/ds-daily-genre-talk/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/28/ds-daily-genre-talk/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/28/ds-daily-genre-talk/#commentsSo, we gotta ask: what's your favorite genre, if you had to choose? That's a tough one for us; honestly, tastes tend to change day to day and by what's in front of us. We love action and we love puzzles, and sometimes we prefer racing or RPGs. But if you had to pick -- even if you can only narrow it down to two -- what do you think would win out in a battle for your tastes?

Let's face it: there aren't many decent fighters for the DS. Japan received the superb Jump Superstars, featuring an insanely large cast of everyone's favorite anime characters, but was not seen fit for localization. While DS Fanboy is all about hopes and dreams, we're also about violence; with that in mind, what fictional characters would you like to see slug it out?

We eliminate standard Nintendo characters; we already have Smash Bros. for those rivalries. We're talking real pirate vs. ninja stuff here. Suggestions among our staff have included Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea against Nemo from Finding Nemo, and the singer of Bananaphone against Charlie the Unicorn.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bananaphonecharliedsdfightingfindinggenrejumpleaguesnemoseasuperstarsunicornTue, 12 Jun 2007 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/29/ds-daily-overabundance-and-dearth/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/29/ds-daily-overabundance-and-dearth/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/29/ds-daily-overabundance-and-dearth/#commentsThe number of DS games given stateside release is now probably beyond 500 (we'd count up all the entries here but we're too lazy), but as in college campuses around the country, diversity can be a tricky beast. We've seen some great titles across the board, of course, but haven't you felt that the DS was a bit lacking in some areas, while watered down in others?

The most obvious absentees are the general JRPG and fighting genres. RPG experiences themselves aren't too difficult to come by, but standard fare (outside of remakes) is a bit harder to find. By and large the best fighting game for the DS, Jump Superstars, has never even been localized. When it comes to puzzle and racing genres, however, we're flooded with low-polish trash. Which genres do you feel are over- or under-represented, and of which would you like to see more?

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>DiversitydsdFantasyFightingFinalgenreJRPGJumppuzzleracingRPGsuperstarsTue, 29 May 2007 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/29/telltale-games-looking-to-the-wii/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/29/telltale-games-looking-to-the-wii/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/29/telltale-games-looking-to-the-wii/#commentsTelltale Games, the studio currently in charge of the Sam n' Max titles, has recently put out a calling for a Wii programmer. Among the very long list of necessary technical experience, the final line includes a requisite love of adventure games. Seriously.

So, is SnM coming to the Wii? Rather contrary to their namesake, the company remains tight-lipped. An official forum post by the developer reads: "We haven't made any announcements about why we're hiring a Wii developer and we really really haven't said that we're working on a Sam & Max game for the Wii. If we do such a thing, you guys will be the first to hear about it, surrounded by 800 gigantic trumpets and probably some cherubs or something. But as of right now, you're talking crazy talk."

Crazy-talk is the only kind we deal with, people. Our guess? Sardonic canines and whack-job lagomorphs are coming to a Wii near you.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AdventureGenreLagomorphMaxProgrammerSamTelltaleMon, 29 Jan 2007 18:15:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/23/ds-daily-the-new-book/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/23/ds-daily-the-new-book/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/23/ds-daily-the-new-book/#commentsThe adventure genre peaked in the early to mid 90's. And then it crashed. Hard. As it trudged along through the years, essentially dead but for rare gems like The Longest Journey, it slowly faded from the minds of modern gamers.

The point-and-click capabilities of the DS have certainly given the once-zombified genre a much-needed jolt. We've seen excellent offerings, including the superlative Phoenix Wright series, the soon-to-be-released Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Trace Memory, Lost in Blue, and a few others (let's not even mention the ScummVM homebrew project). But the DS gives these games something they could have never had in the nineties: absolute portability. It's almost as though these games compete directly with the classic novel, something which has never really been seen even amongst the myriad of gadgets anyone can go out and readily purchase.

Our question is this: how does a DS adventure game compare to that of a classic book? What would you rather whip out on the way to work? Phoenix Wright2 has had our hearts and minds in a legal grip for days on end. You may not look as smart as those punks reading Vonnegut, but that's okay. You look cooler.

In our final interview from the Develop Conference, Jen and I had a quick chat with Tetsuya Mizuguchi from Q Entertainment (and Rez fame) about the problems western developers face in trying to tackle the Japanese market, Rez 2 (he regrets never making it) and the issue of games that are critically successful, but don't sell so well (Rez again).

Earlier on in your career you worked on titles like Sega Rally, Channel 5 and Rez. These are all very different genres and styles of game. What's inspired you to create such varied styles in your games?

I don't care about the genre. Somebody once told me that I'm "hopping genres", but I've never really cared about genres. I always think about the human being, the wants that I think people have. Their basic instinct. So my games speak a universal language, so everybody can feel what is fun.